This invention is in the field of locks for trunk lids on automobiles, or the like.
Normally, the locks for truck lids on automobiles are key operated and cannot be unlocked in any other way, even though some manufacturers provide a remote control mechanism whereby the trunk lid may be released from within the passenger compartment. It has happened on occasion that children have accidentally locked themselves in trunks and have been unable to get out. Also, there have been instances where persons have been kidnapped and placed in trunk of an automobile where they were held captive. There have been proposals for means whereby a person within a locked automobile trunk could release the latch from inside and without the use of a key. An example of such proposal is in U.S. Pat. No. 3,992,909 but the mechanism shown therein is quite complicated and requires several manipulations including first declutching an inner member from the key lock. Also, the remotely controlled latch arrangements previously referred to might conceivably be manipulated from within the trunk to release the lid but they involve rather complicated mechanisms to be installed by the manufacturer. Examples of such proposals are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,016,968, 3,062,033, 2,877,038 and 3,985,381. In each of those devices the latch mechanism itself must be modified, at the time of manufacture, to accommodate or provide for the remote control mechanism.